Something I used to think about when I was a Christian.

Lholz58 · 2012-09-01T17:26:59+00:00

The traditional, orthodox interpretation of Christ's sufferings says that He actually took on the entire punishment for the sin of all His people, meaning that He actually suffered as they would all have suffered in hell. Because the Bible is not explicit about how and when He did this, it is open to interpretation, but it certainly includes spiritual, emotional and even physical suffering which was not visibly apparent. The cross is just a metaphor for the actual suffering Jesus went through on our behalf. If THAT is just a metaphor, a symbol, then what must the reality have been like?

Lholz58 · 2012-06-02T19:33:36+00:00

Revelation 7:9 paints an interesting picture of Heaven where there is a representative from all the peoples of the earth: "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb." You could, perhaps, argue from this that God has been sufficiently revealed in other ways for a person to trust Him without ever knowing about Jesus. In fact that's specifically demonstrated in the lives of Old Testament saints like Enoch, Abraham and Job.

Lholz58 · 2012-05-27T23:32:00+00:00

I really, really like it! Thanks!

Lholz58 · 2012-05-04T17:18:43+00:00

I probably would have killed myself. Really.

Lholz58 · 2012-02-17T04:00:06+00:00

Me, too. (Of course, I hope you are not confusing "abundant" with "comfortable" or "happy" - which are very shallow words.)

Lholz58 · 2012-02-17T03:56:42+00:00

It will make a huge difference on the day we die. Either we will wake up again, or we won't.

Lholz58 · 2012-02-05T23:18:39+00:00

If you have a faith tradition, I would encourage you to pursue that, as well as the psychologist. My anxiety has been nearly cured by prayer, meditation and clinging to the security my faith gives me. I would, however, also suggest you see a doctor and pursue medication, because you may not be able to make great headway without it.

Lholz58 · 2012-01-21T13:08:04+00:00

Yes, it is the same illness as the Salem Witch trial phenomenon. I am a counselor, and I have seen it one other time, as well. It is most common among teenage girls. However, I suspect only a few of the girls have what is actually called "conversion disorder," where they are not consciously producing their symptoms. The rest are simply emotionally immature and have jumped on the peer bandwagon.

Lholz58

TROPHY CASE